


Halloween Special

by FanFicReader01



Category: Poets of the Fall
Genre: 2spoopy4me, Crack, Dumb Ways to Die, Ghosts, Halloween, Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, ready your skeletons lads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-25 02:27:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12520888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanFicReader01/pseuds/FanFicReader01
Summary: A PoTF Halloween Special





	1. The First Story

In the woods I was laid.

Before I got slayed.

My throat, cut so deep.

Forever, I was put to sleep.

 

My body, perished.

At last, the rotten thing vanished.

The altar bloodied and stained.

But also my shadow remained.

 

Now in these woods I roam around.

To this strange world in-between the living and dead, I’m forever bound.

 

~ M. K


	2. The Second Story

He was young, he was foolish.

 

How could he ever think being a vampire would be fun? Well, at first it seemed to be pretty neat.

For beginners, you’d be forever young. You’d never age. You’d be able to fly and turn into a bat! The only disadvantage of being a vampire: you can never see the sun again. Unless you want to be burnt alive.

Oh, and you better eat no garlic anymore and stay away from mirrors. And the price for all that is your life. But after that, you’ll be ‘reborn’ anew.

 

“No big deal,” that is what Marko had said when he first met with the vampire who, later that night, turned him into one.

Marko had found multiple reasons why he wouldn’t mind to be a vampire.

 “My skin is already sun sensitive. I never liked garlic anyway. I’m not Christian. I’m not afraid of heights. I’m not vain enough to be looking in a mirror all day so I won’t miss them. And finally, I’m a poor peasant so I don’t think anyone would miss me when I’m ‘gone.’”

  

The first week of being a vampire was horrible though. Marko felt like he hadn’t slept in ages. He felt weak and sick. He was hungry for blood all the time, yet he wasn’t sure if he could overcome his disgust of killing a human in order to survive. That was the only but very important thing he had overlooked.

But eventually his instincts kicked in and Marko had made his first kill: an unfortunate rich traveller that got lost in the woods. The woods Marko now lived in.

 

Marko, being young and foolish, made him an easy target though.

His kills were sloppy and he always left a trail of blood in his wake, making it easy for hunters to track him down.  So Marko had to flee.

 

\--

 

It eventually led him to another part of the country. Luckily for him, the chase had stopped.

Giving Marko time to safely settle down somewhere.

It was during a stormy night when Marko found his new home. An old, seemingly abandoned, house in the middle of the woods. It felt similar to his former home.

When the vampire got inside, it was indeed abandoned. Piles of dust everywhere. Old books scattered across the floor, cobwebs decorating the whole ceiling and the stinky smell of animal feces and piss filled each room.

 

“Gosh, this place needs a serious makeover!” the vampire grunted. He wouldn’t be able to live here if the place was such a mess.

 “Indeed,” a crooked voice commented.

Alerted, Marko scanned the room but he didn’t see anyone.

 “Who’s there? Don’t play tricks on me! I’m dangerous!” Marko shouted to the emptiness.

A chuckle echoed through the place now. “Dangerous? Perhaps you are but how can you attack someone who doesn’t have a physical body?”

 “Wha-, what do you mean?” Marko stammered confused. Where was this voice coming from? And to whom did it belong? Suddenly a stranger materialized in front of him.

The man was taller than the vampire. His eyes were completely white and pupils or an iris were non-existent. Anther bizarre feature of the man was the large black hole in his chest through which a thick chain was pierced. Oh, and the fact that he was not touching the floor was also creepy. He was _floating_ a few centimetres above the wood.

 “Don’t worry, I won’t harm you. Even if I wanted to, I simply can’t”, the stranger reassured Marko.

To illustrate the statement the bald man tried to punch Marko. The vampire, stunned, only flinched a little but he never felt the hit coming.

 

“A-Are you a-,” Marko couldn’t seem to get the words out.

 “A ghost? Yes. My name’s Markus,” the stranger smiled.

“Oh, I’m Marko. I’m a vampire.”

 “Nice to meet you, Marko. So what brings you to this place?”

“I needed shelter. And actually a new place to live. I’ve been driven out of my old home after people found out I was a vampire,” Marko muttered. Then he added: “But now that I see you live here, I guess I should pack my stuff again?”

 “No, no! Stay, I insist! I’ve never had another guest before!” Markus quickly exclaimed. He let his shoulders hang and sighed: “Well, every possible newcomer ran away after I tried to talk to them. People are afraid of ghosts, you see?”

 “Not me. Well, not anymore,” Marko grinned. It made Markus worried frown disappear.

“I think we might become good friends, Marko,” the ghost stated.

 “I hope so too. I just hope you don’t mind me feeding off people to survive,” the vampire silently muttered.

 “Not really.  I mean being a ghost for so long has changed my moral compass. So you can expect me to be ‘cool’ with some, otherwise immoral practices.  But just don’t kill people as a hobby or something. Otherwise I’ll have to annoy you so much you no longer want to live here!”

 “I won’t,” Marko promised with a grin.

 Although several months had passed already, he still wasn’t used to killing people. So whenever he had to, Marko always tried to do it as quick and painless as possible. No need for his victims to unnecessarily suffer too long.

 “Then we’re good,” Markus happily nodded. “I’d say, try to make yourself at home!”


	3. The Third Story

Olli wondered when it had happened, those changes.

 

\--

 

He was a young musician who almost never got in trouble. He was just finished with college and now he was trying to find his way into the big music industry. He no longer lived with his parents anymore and instead he had settled into the big city where he hoped to pursue his dreams of becoming a full-fletched guitarist.

 

The first weeks were hectic but after a while the young man had completely settled.

Although he could already work with some small bands, he still need extra money to get by. And from that moment, things started to get weird. It all started when Olli had signed up to become pizza delivery boy. It wasn’t exactly the job he thought he’d be doing now that he got out of college but here he was: delivering pizzas.

At least he got a motor now. Too bad the ugly logo of the pizzeria was plastered on the vehicle.

 “All great people start small,” the young man told himself whenever he felt embarrassed of his job.

During his time as a delivery boy, he had encountered many strange people.

 

An old lady with a shotgun, hipsters, a whole goth family which reminded him of the Addams Family, a whole group of junkies dressed up in big banana suits, an old man who was obsessed with swords and knives, a religious freak and what not.

 

Just when Olli thought he had seen it all, he had to deliver some pizzas in the outer ring of the tumultuous city. On the very end of the street arose a large, gloomy house. It was almost a mansion.

Before Olli had even knocked on the door, it opened by itself.

“Put the pizza in the living room. Money’s there as well,” said a questionable voice.

Doubtfully, Olli entered the house and put the pizzas on the table of the living room which was also enormous and decorated with very eerie stuff. It reminded him of the time he had to deliver a pizza to  ‘the Addams Family’. With a trembling hand he took his money and ran for the door. That’s when a big, black dog- _no, a monster_ \- jumped the delivery boy.

He screeched and tried to get rid of the hairy thing. But the animal was persistent. Even when Olli had jumped onto his motor, the darn thing wouldn’t let go of his leg and shoe.

 Fortunately the owner of the dog finally came to Olli’s rescue.

“Jerry! Leave that nice, young boy alone!” an elderly woman with a hunch appeared on the doorstep. She didn’t fit into the picture of the mansion, the young musician thought. The dog cowered in front of the old woman and crawled back into the house.

 “I’m sorry about our  little Jerry. Sometimes he just can’t control his excitement!” the granny chuckled as if it was nothing. Her eyes widened, however, when she saw the ugly wound her ‘little’ dog caused.

 “Come back in, I’ll take care of your wound.”

Olli wanted to politely refuse but something in the old lady’s eyes told him, he’d better follow her back into the house.

 

There she helped him disinfect and bandage the wound. She gave him new pants for his old ones were totally ripped.

 “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see that coming. Even without the moon Jerry-,” the granny sighed and stopped midsentence as if she made slip of tongue. She looked at Olli who was still pale from the shock.

She bitterly smiled at the delivery boy and assured him: “Now don’t you worry, boy. The wound will heal sooner or later. Just be aware of any changes you might notice. Don’t be afraid to stop by if you’re feeling confused or sick. But maybe you’re lucky and you won’t feel anything at all!”

 Olli nodded and tried to smile back even though he wasn’t sure what the old lady meant.

 

\--

 

That darn dog must’ve been the cause of all these changes, Olli thought as he stood in front of his mirror.

His skin was a tad paler than usual. He swore he had grown a little. Maybe it was because of his increased hunger? As of lately, he often found himself in the kitchen past midnight.

His growth had led to a wonky coordination regarding his whole body. Sometimes his coordination just didn’t feel right and he accidentally bumped into things which usually didn’t happen. He also knocked stuff over because his body felt so different and clumsy.

 “Guess I’m going through a second puberty,” Olli had grunted.

 

But the most significant change was his hair. Olli had started to grow more hair _everywhere_.

Now, the young guitarist was never a person with facial hair -he simply couldn’t grow it- so when he woke up one day with hair on his chin, on his jawline and above his upper lip he had screamed. He would look in the mirror multiple times to check if he was dreaming or if this was real.

 It was real.

Olli wondered if it was normal for him to have such rigid body hair. It almost felt _inhuman_. It felt like the hair belonged to some kind of animal.

Next to the hair just being there, it also caused the musician a strange itch. An itch he couldn’t get rid of. Several times Olli had scratched so hard, his skin started bleeding.

At night the itch was the worse. He was turning in his bed, getting rid of all his clothes. He took a nightly, cold bath. Everything to soothe his strange pain.

It was like Olli could jump out of his own skin any second now. So when he could hardly stand it anymore, he reluctantly went back to the mysterious old lady and her ferocious dog.

 

“So you _are_ changing,” the woman murmured as she sat down with Olli in her living room.

 “Yes, I desperately want to know what is happening to me,” the young man almost cried out.

“How do I say this…,” the granny shook her head, “I’m sorry to tell you, my dear, but you are turning into a wolf.”

 “A wolf?!” Olli exclaimed.

“Yes. You’ve become a werewolf. That means you won’t be a wolf forever.”

 “S-So Jerry-,” the guitarist started to realize.

“Yes, he is a werewolf. Jerry? Jerry! Come here! I need to talk to you!” the old lady shouted.

Now rumbling was heard upstairs and a few seconds later a young boy stood in the living room. He couldn’t be older than twelve, Olli guessed.

Was this the monster that attacked him? He could hardly believe it.

The young boy gave Olli a cocky look and Olli could’ve killed the boy then and there if he wouldn’t have any decency left.

 “I want you to apologize to this nice, young man. I believe you remember him?”

“Of course I do,” the boy snorted, avoiding eye-contact with the guitarist.

 “I’m waiting, Jerry.”

The subtle threat in her voice made Jerry flinch. He now completely turned to Olli and _bowed_.

 “I’m sorry, sir. I really didn’t mean to attack you nor to turn you into one of my kind. My sincere apologies.”

After that, the boy sprinted upstairs again and wasn’t seen or heard anymore.

 

“I’d hoped he wouldn’t infect you but there’s nothing to stop the transformation.”

 “Is there any cure? Or at least something to stop this hair growth and itch?” Olli basically pleaded.

“No. There isn’t. The full moon will be in three days. Your first transformation will be horrible and agonizing. I’m sorry but that’s the painful truth. After that, it’s normal for you to turn into a werewolf multiple times even without the full moon being present. That will be your state for maybe a year. Sometimes even two years.”

 “WHAT?!”

“Yes, my dear. Sit down, please. Because there’s good news as well. Yes, the first year won’t be pleasant and if you have a job, I’d suggest to give it up completely. People aren’t too fond of werewolves among them. But back to the good news. After the first year, your body will be stabilized again. In fact, after your first transformation, you will moult. Lose all the newly gained hair. Which basically means you’ll turn back to your former self again. Although it can be possible during your first year, that the closer the full moon gets, the hairier you get,” the old lady explains and Olli starts feeling dizzy.

This can’t be happening to him. God, is he becoming a monster?

 

 “So is that the good news because it doesn’t sound that great to me!” Olli shouted frustrated.

“Other news is that you can live here. Here you are safe from people who could potentially hurt you.”

 “I’m sorry, granny, but I’m not really in the mood to live here!”

“I see. Then I’d suggest you to move out of your old home anyway because you could be a possible threat to your surrounding neighbours!”

 “And that wouldn’t happen if I were to live here?!” Olli snorted.

“Well, this house has some specific items to contain the beast that will come out of you. I have experience, you know,” the old lady cackled amused.

 It made Olli even more suspicious of her: “Oh, so you _wanted_ this to happen, didn’t you?”

“No! How dare you to blame me for what happened?! It looks like you don’t want my help at all! In that case, be gone! Shoo, shoo!”

Suddenly the old lady pulled out a silver necklace and Olli felt not only disgust but even experienced pain when he got close in contact with the material.

 Quickly he fled out of the house.

“Never come back, you ungrateful dog!” the woman growled. Instead of closing the door shut immediately, she silently added: “If you need help, check the address card I gave you. I put it in those new pants of yours.”

 

Once Olli got home, he checked the pants he got. Much to his surprise the card the lady gave him, had survived the laundry. On the card was an address visible.

 “Guess I’ll have to go there after all,” the young man groaned.

He really didn’t ask for all this crap. Just when he started a new life, he had to leave it all behind because he was a freaking werewolf!

 

\--

 

Well, at least not many people seemed to visit these woods.

Olli had travelled the whole day to cross a big part of the country. And now he had ended up in these dark woods. There was a subtle path leading to his destination. He was surprised someone would built a house in the middle of the forest. The house looked surprisingly inviting though. There was a sign hanging outside which told Olli this was actually an inn.

He knocked on the door but there was no one who opened so Olli walked around the house to look for the owner but he had no luck.

 “Hello?” he shouted. No answer.

When he got back to the front, the door simply swung open and a blond man in a bathrobe stood in the door opening. He wore a green beauty mask with two pieces of cucumber covering his eyes before he removed them.

 “Who dares to interrupt my night routine and-,” the strange man ogled Olli before letting him in.

“Oh, you’re the new guest, am I right?” he mumbled as he noticed the musician’s bags.

 “Yeah. I’m Olli. It’s said that this place is for… special people?” Olli carefully guessed. He’d better not tell this man he was a werewolf right away.

What if the old lady was lying and this would be a trap?

 The man in the bathrobe nodded. “I’m Marko, owner of this lovely inn for Special Ones. Although I’d like to call us the Beautiful Ones.”

Olli looked confused.

 “I’m just kidding! So, what exactly are you?” Marko wanted to know.

Again, it left Olli baffled. It made the owner of the inn sigh: “I’m a vampire. So what are you?”

 “A v-vampire?” those existed too? He shouldn’t be surprised but he was. Never did Olli think those myths and legends would be true.

 “Yep, now don’t look so surprised. You haven’t answered my question yet,” Marko peered at him impatiently.

 “I-, I’m Olli Tukiainen. I, eh, I used to be a human.”

Now Marko groaned: “Look, kid, I don’t have all night! New customers will arrive soon so you better tell me what you are so we can be done with it and I can show you your room. Unless,” Marko now jumps right in front of the young man until they’re nose to nose.

 “Unless you’re an impostor or a regular human! In that case I’m afraid I’ll have to eat you after you know my secret.”

 “I’m a werewolf!” Olli cries out, begging for his life.

Marko’s grimace turns into a bright smile and he pats the younger man on his shoulder.

 “That’s more like it, wolfy! Welcome to the club! Come on, let me show you your room!”

 

 

“So, this place is specially for, eh, folks like you?” Olli asked as they walked through the corridors of the house. This place looked smaller from the outside.

 “And folks like you,” Marko pointed out. “Yes, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, you name it! Most people don’t stay long here, though. Mostly travellers who need a place to crash. Or people like you, who unfortunately turned into a Special One and needs a safe haven.”

 “Oh. But I’m afraid I’ll have to live here forever,” Olli whispered.

The vampire patted Olli’s back and smiles: “That’s alright. That’s what we discussed beforehand, right?”

Olli nodded.

  “Yeah. Could you… help me with this werewolf stuff?”

“Gosh, I only had a few werewolf customers so I don’t know that much about you folks. They say werewolves can have a temperament,” Marko grinned.

 “I don’t!” Olli snapped back. He almost never snapped. Guessed Marko was right after all.

Slightly embarrassed, the younger man turned his gaze from Marko.

 “Oy, it’s alright, Olli. I’m just kidding! Say, are you going to sleep or stay up?”

“I think I’m going to sleep. Or at least try to. I’ve been travelling all day.”

 “Okay, I see. In that case, sleep well. Maybe tomorrow or later this night you can come down. I’d like to chat some more with you. Want to show you around, let you meet my best friend and co-worker Markus. Maybe he’s even here already but we do not know it yet.”

 “Wh-what do you mean?” Olli asked confused and worried.

“My friend’s a ghost, you see? Anyway, don’t worry about him sneaking up on you. He knows how to give guests their privacy. Good night, Olli. I hope you’ll like it here.”

 “Thank you, Marko. Good night too, I guess,” Olli showed a small smile before he closed the door behind him. It looked like he would start his second new life in this strange inn in the middle of the woods.


	4. The Fourth Story

A man had awoken from a dream that was filled  with blurry images of blood, blazing guns, sweat, tears and human screams of agony. Was it a battlefield?

When the man opened his eyes, he saw a different view. He was laying in a grass field. The green seemed so bright. Just like the sun that shone brightly in the blue sky, painting it with its warm colour.

The man, confused and partly blinded by the ball in the air, held his hands in front of his eyes. That was the moment he felt something strange. Something was covering his eyes.

Carefully his fingers brushed over the material. It felt like glass or was it plastic? Was he wearing glasses?

Exhausted he sat up and looked around him some more. He had been laying under a tree.

 As he sat up, he inspected his clothes.

He wore dark grey pants with side pockets on both legs. Heavy combat boots protected his feet. A simple, kaki coloured sports jacket got his upper body covered. Strange. The man wanted to rub his face but something prevented him from touching his own face. Something else was on his face as well. Something foreign. Panicked the man jumped up and looked around if he could find a mirror or at least an object in which he could see himself.

The trip led him through the park he had been sleeping in. How long had he been sleeping, though?

Eventually he reached a lake. Some ducks were swimming close to the waterside. As soon as they saw the stranger approach, they quickly swam away.

 “I won’t hurt you,” the man muttered as he neared the water. He knelt down and almost got an heart attack when he could see himself reflected.

 

He didn’t wear glasses. It was like two lenses covered his eyes. They glimmered in the sun.

The lower part of his face was hidden behind a black gasmask.

Afraid of himself, the man fell back and crawled away from the water. What was going on? Why did he wear these strange things?

_Who was he?_

 

After the initial shock the man, who did not remember a single thing about himself or his past, found out he was wearing a necklace. Upon closer inspection he noticed it were dogtags. His name was written on it, or at least the man suspected it was his own name.

  _Jaska Mäkinen_.

So he was a soldier. That would explain the outfit. That didn’t explain why a, supposing, fallen soldier would be sleeping in a park in the middle of a city. The name on the tags didn’t make any bells ring nor did it help Jaska remember his own past.

Aimlessly Jaska wandered through the park, trying to avoid people. He didn’t want people to see him like this. He retreated to some bushes where he knelt down to remove the lenses and the gasmask.

 He soon found out that was a bad decision. The lenses had been protecting him all this time. With them gone, Jaska felt the lack of having eyelids. His eyeballs could roll out of their sockets anytime if he hadn’t put the lenses back on.

The revelation made his heart beat faster and faster. He was almost too afraid to remove his gasmask. Who knows why he had to wear one. So with trembling hands, the ex-soldier removed the heavy thing from his face and felt his jaw. It was scarred and bruised. It felt like burnt flesh.

As his fingers trailed upwards the man could feel his own teeth. Too afraid to continue, he put on his mask again and groaned. Should he go to the police or would they put him in jail?

 

\--

 

“S-So you are really alive!” Jaska got waken up by the voice of a young boy.

 “Stay away from me, kid!” the tall man warned but the youngster stepped closer instead.

“No, I’m not afraid you! Whoa, this is so awesome!” the kid said, leaving Jaska confused once more.

 “Wait, what’s going on?” the man wanted to know.

“I made you up. In my mind, you see?” the boy replied and pointed to his own head. “I wrote stories about you. You’re a soldier from the Apocalypse! The Apocalypse isn’t real, nor are you actually… but I found this awesome book with spells in it and-, and there was this one spell to bring characters from stories to life!” the boy continued excited. It left Jaska baffled.

 “So if I understand this correctly, you brought me to life? Into the real world?!”

The boy nodded. “Yes! Anyway, you can call me Jamie.”

 “Oh, okay, Jamie. So what now?”

“You can stay at my place!” Jamie smiled but Jaska wasn’t so sure about that.

 “What about your parents? I don’t think they’ll like it to have a soldier in their house.”

“Then we have to be sneaky!” Jamie muttered. He was walking in circles, trying to come up with some plan. Honestly, Jaska didn’t know how a kid could hide a grown adult in his bedroom or anywhere in the house without being caught.

 

\--

 

As expected, his parents weren’t too happy and they were almost going to call the cops to arrest Jaska but Jamie somehow prevented that.

 “I’m sorry buddy, you were right. This isn’t going to work out. But hey, I’ve got news!”

“What is it?” Jaska and the boy were back in the park. Some people gave them weird looks and others made sure to disappear as quickly as they could. Jaska couldn’t blame them. He was literally out of place in this world.

 “Remember the book I used to bring you to life?”

Jaska nodded.

 “Well, it had this address in it. And after some further research and with the help of some friend, I found out it was a special place for people like you!”

 “Soldiers from a non-existing Apocalypse?” Jaska raised his eye, questioning the boy.

“Well, not exactly. But all kinds of strange creatures can go there! Like vampires and stuff,” Jamie further explained.

 “Do vampires exist?!” Jaska exclaimed in disbelief. It made Jamie chuckle.

“Well, if you can then I’m not surprised vampires are real too!”

 “I see. Well, this is where our roads part, huh?”

“Goodbye, Jaska. Please, take care and try not to get caught by the cops.”

“Goodbye, Jamie. Now don’t you worry about me. I can take care of myself.”


	5. The Fifth Story

One hour to go before his friend’s wedding. Agitated he overslept and traffic sucked, Jani sat in his car, honking at the car in front of him who won’t drive even when the lights were green.

 “Jeez, this way I’ll never arrive in time,” Jani grumbled. If so, that would mean the band would play without their bassist. What a shame.

As soon as the musician got where he needed to be, it still took him a fifteen minute walk to the church. Instead of taking it slow, he sprinted with his bass guitar case in one hand, the bag with the costume in the other hand. Due to Jani’s hurry, he didn’t pay attention to an old banana that laid in his way.

He unfortunately slipped and fell with the back of his head on the ground.

 The world turned black and the last thing Jani thought was: “Looks like I’ll never be attending that wedding. Way to ruin your friend’s best day.”

 

\--

 

With an incredible headache, Jani woke up and immediately bumped his head into something hard.

 “What in the-,” he hissed. Everything around him was dark. He could hardly move and it felt like he was trapped in something. A very, very narrow room. No, this wasn’t a room. Was he… in a box?

If so, why? When the bassist rubbed over his head, it felt strange. His skin felt weird. As for his hair, it had a strange texture to it. What was going on?

 He tried to open the box he was laying in. It took the man a long time before he could open it. As soon as he managed to, earth crumbs fell into his box. That’s when Jani started to realize something.

He was in a coffin and he had been buried! So he didn’t die! In a wave of panic, Jani tried to dig himself out of the coffin and the earth. His mouth got filled with dirt and pebbles, making him cough and almost choke. Except, he didn’t.

 Frightened, Jani clutched his heart and then he realized he was _dead_. He had no heart or at least it didn’t beat. So how could he still move and think? He would try to understand all that after he got out.

 

With no idea how long he had been digging, he finally saw something that could resemble the sky.

 “Dear god, light!” the man exclaimed in pure joy. He felt victorious.

When his left arm and a part of his head popped out of his grave, he spotted a person in the distance. He decided to ask for help.

 “Hey! Hey! You there! Help me! Help! I’m stuck!”

Much to his surprise, the stranger started to approach.

 “Thank god there’s someone here! Please, help me!” Jani cried out.

Finally the other person stood in front of him. He looked remarkable tall and _strange_. He wore a gasmask and two glimmering lenses to cover his eyes. The man -it was definitely a man- knelt down by Jani and gave him a frown.

 “What the fuck is going on?”

“I try to dig myself out of this ground, okay?”

 “Are you a… zombie?” the masked man asked.

“Eh,” now that Jani came to think about it, it might as well be true, “Yeah, I guess so. And you?”

 “Soldier from an Apocalypse. I don’t really belong to this world, you see? Anyway, my name’s Jaska.”

“Nice to meet you, Jaska! My name’s Jani. But could you please help me out?”

 “Sure.”

 

After some more digging, Jaska managed to get Jani out of his grave. In the process, he almost ripped of the musician’s arm.

 “So, eh… you’re not from this world?” Jani wanted to know.

“No. I’m from a kid’s wild story and he somehow managed to bring me to life. What about you?”

 “I dunno, I just…woke up like this. Don’t think that’s normal.”

“Probably not. But don’t worry, Jani. You can come with me. I was actually on my way to a special inn for weirdos like us,” Jaska suggested.

 “Sounds legit. Gosh, I can’t believe I’m too late for my friend’s wedding. What year is it?”

“2017 I believe.”

 “Yep, definitely more than a decade too late.”


	6. The Final Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween lol

The youngster wasn’t so sure when his parents send him to his new home which was located in  -seemingly- he middle of nowhere.

 “It’s the most affordable place plus it’s only one hour away from the college you’ll be attending,” his parents told him when he wanted to know why it had to be this strange apartment

 

And now Jari stands here in the forest, all by himself, with his luggage.

The taxi driver told him he couldn’t go any further because the bumpy and sandy paths wouldn’t allow it for his car. So reluctantly Jari’s dragging his bags with him. The sun’s lowering already.

He better hurry now.

 “Gosh, is this place spooky or is it just me?” Jari grumbles as he gets deeper into the woods.

After a long walk with many struggles, he approaches the house. The area is dimly lit with only one streetlight near the door.

 “Well Come In,” he reads out loud on the sigh which hangs above the doorpost. Hesitatingly he knocks a few times. Soon someone opens the door. The man’s taller and paler than Jari.

 “Welcome! You are…,” the man with the blond hair ogles Jari and then his luggage before guessing, “the newcomer?! You’re going to stay here for your studies, right?”

Jari nods. “Yes, sir.”

 “Good, good! Oh, call me Marko! I’m the house boss and owner of the inn here together with my friend Markus. Anyway, come on in! It must be cold out there, huh?” Marko sounds way more enthusiastic than the youngster.

The owner of the house helps him carry some of the bags and then he shouts: “Hey, Jaska! Could you be so kind to help this nice young man with his luggage?”

While Jari quickly takes in the interior, a man even taller than Marko enters the scene.

 

Jari shivers by the sight of the other stranger. He looks imposing with that weird gasmask and the lenses.

 Marko notices Jari’s shocked posture and tries to reassure him: “Jaska’s a good guy. He might look threatening at first but when you get to know him, you’ll understand he’s actually a sweetheart.”

 “Okay,” Jari mutters without being convinced.

Jaska laughs and the sound he emits sound distorted because of the mask he’s wearing.

 “Don’t worry, I won’t eat you. That’s why I wear this mask,” the man adds with a chuckle.

Marko, Jari and Jaska go upstairs and at the end of the hall is Jari’s room.

The strange scratches on one of the other doors don’t go unnoticed by the student.

 “Wh-what was that?” he stammers

“Nothing to worry about. One of the other people living here sometimes has an uncontrollable temperament. But most of the time, Olli’s a gentle being to be with,” Marko informs his new guest.

That being said, the door to Jari’s room is opened and everyone puts the luggage down.

Jari, not wanting to be impolite, thanks Jaska and Marko for their help before they leave his room.

 “Oh, Jari, before I go, this evening you might want to have dinner with us! That way I can introduce to the other people living here!” Marko smiles and Jari nods.

 

\--

 

After Jari’s been cleaning and storing his belongings in the right places he falls onto his bed, exhausted. Much to his surprise wifi’s available here. He quickly sends his parents a message that he has arrived and everything’s alright. He doesn’t tell them about Jaska or Marko’s unusual pale face with sharp teeth.

The student stands up and walks over to the window. Maybe it’s time for dinner with Marko and the others, whoever that might be. Will the ‘others’ also be as strange as the owner and his friend?

Jari sighs before he decides to go downstairs. When he opens the door a bald man stands in front of him. When did he get here? He didn’t’ hear him approach, right?

 “Oh, I’m sorry to have scared you, Jari!” the man apologizes. He seems to be blind for his eyes are very white.

 “I-It’s alright. I was just going to have dinner with Marko,” Jari mutters.

The other man smiles and introduces himself: “I’m Markus. Together with Marko I runt his place. I was just going to ask you to join us. Most of the other residents are already present.”

 “Sorry I’m late then,” Jari shakes his head.

“It’s alright. You must’ve been unpacking all day. I hope you like it here so far, though,” Markus says as they walk through the hall.

The smaller man gives the other man a quick side-glance and gulps. Markus isn’t walking, he’s _floating_. And now that Jari inspects him up closer, he remarks that the bald man is quite transparent.

 It makes the younger man stop in his tracks.

“You’re a ghost!” he exclaims.

Now Markus turns around and nods. “Yes, I am. But don’t worry, we’re not here to eat you! Normal humans visit this place too.”

 “Normal humans? Wh-what are you implying w-with that?!” Jari starts to take a few steps back from the ghost.

 “Well, how do I put this? Most of our clients here are a bit… special. Not many humans do know about this safe haven for what you call monsters,” Markus explains in a soft tone, not wanting to startle the new guest even more.

Jari turns pale but he probably still isn’t as pale as Marko.

 “Monsters?”

“We’re not here to eat you. Monsters behave here. Wouldn’t want to blow our cover or have strangers get suspicious,” Markus promises. When Jari has calmed down they continue their trip downstairs.

 

Four pair of eyes observe the new guy when he joins them at the long table.

 “There you are, Jari! Say hello everyone!” Marko jumps up and starts clapping. The other residents clap along, be it less cheerful.

 “Eh, hi everyone?” Jari hesitates before he sits down. The others nod in silence.

“Jari may not be a Special One but that actually makes him the special guy around here,” Marko starts.

Now another man with blond hair stands up and growls: “You mean he’s a human?”

 “Yes, Olli, now sit down and relax. Jari won’t do us any harm, right, Jari?”

Jari quickly nods as he keeps intense eye-contact with Olli. Olli snarls and shows a sharp teeth that could belong to some sort of wild animal. Eventually he sits down and sharply exhales.

 “I’m sorry, Jari. Full moon’s soon and I’m feeling restless as usual,” the blond now apologizes.

Unsure on what to say to that, Jari nods again and now Marko speaks up: “Why don’t you introduce yourself, Jari? After that, the others will also introduce themselves!”

Marko, who must be a vampire, seems to be very glad to have a new member in his house.

 “No one goes first? Okay then, you know me already, I’m Marko Saaresto. I’m an old vampire but I still feel as young as my appearance! I found this house centuries back but it was already haunted by my best buddy, Markus here.” The vampire tries to pat Markus but his hand goes through him of course.

 “Eventually Marko and I decided to turn this place into something more liveable. To make it a safe haven for other vampires but soon this place got more or less crowded by all kind of folks,” Markus finishes their story.

 “So, eh… how did you turn into a ghost, Markus?” Jari doubtfully asks. Now he realizes he might not want to hear the answer.

 “Sad story short, I got hunted because people thought I practiced in witchcraft. But more I do not nor do I want to remember. Next!”

 “Guess it’s my turn,” Olli murmurs, “Olli Tukiainen, turned into a werewolf by some werewolf kid named Jerry. Had to flee and found this place to crash. Next to being a ball off fur, I’m actual a musician. I play guitar and I hope to make a living out of it one day. That almost got realized until that unfortunate event.”

 “True but now that our dear friend is getting used of being a werewolf and also controlling the wolf inside him, it will be easier to achieve his goal again,” Marko says. Olli shrugs his shoulders. “Probably.”

 Now Jari focuses on the man sitting next to Olli. It’s Jaska. He wonders what his story is.

 “My name’s Jaska Mäkinen. I’m a fallen soldier from the Apocalypse. A fictional apocalypse. I was made up by some goofy kid who then summoned me into this real world and it seems like the world cannot get rid of me. You don’t have to be afraid of me. I can’t remember my time in the army, although I still have the reflexes from my training. Never use those skills in real life and don’t plan to.”

 The last guy on the table looks like he’s a zombie from one of those movies Jari used to watch when he was little.

 “I’m Jani. Zombie bassist. Use to play at my friend’s wedding but I only arrived a few decades too late. Which is a darn shame. Reason of death? A banana peel. Since then, I do not trust bananas anymore. I can’t stand them so if you’re planning to eat them, don’t do it in my presence.”

 Jari glares at the living corpse and wonders if this man’s serious.

His loud cackle proves otherwise.  “If you’re going to live here, you better get used to our lame jokes and bad taste in food.”

 

The latter thing worries the young student greatly.

 “So you guys… eat people?”

“Some of us used to, yes. But we’ve improved and we’ve become human friendly! Human blood can be subtracted in safe ways, you know,” Marko chuckles.

 “I only eat meat from the wild life in the forest,” Olli comments.

“I must be the most environment friendly person here. I don’t eat anything at all! My stomach just can’t take it nor am I ever hungry,” Jaska grins behind his mask.

 “Oy, don’t forget me! I don’t need food or water either,” Markus exclaims.

Now everyone turns to Jani.

 “What?”

“You’re the only one cannibal among us unless Jari has a secret we don’t know about yet.”

 “I’m not a cannibal, I swear!” Jari almost shouts in immediate defence.

“Yeah, I practice some illegal cannibalism. I need it to survive, like you Marko! Also, I’m not hurting any dead being while doing so,” Jani snorts as he crosses his arms.

 “Sure you do,” Olli chuckles.

“He does it without hurting any living people,” Marko quickly adds for it won’t confuse Jari.

 

\--

 

Adapting to his new life in this strange inn takes Jari time but eventually he’s used to his new but strange life.

For beginners, his sleep schedule is kind of fucked. Half of the residents sleep during day and wake up at night. Sometimes they’d throw parties too, giving Jari no time for sleep.

Reluctantly he parties along but loses himself in the fun in no-time. The consequences of that, result in Jari almost looking like Marko or Jani when he’s attending college the following day.

 

A plus of having a ghost or a vampire as a friend is that they know a lot of quirky events in history.

Marko and Markus often correct some points in Jari’s history books

One time, Jari cheated during an exam by having Markus accompany him. But he only did that once and after a scolding of Marko they decided to never do that again.

 

Although Jari is a clever kid in general, he can be clumsy sometimes and then he’d lose some of his books or other accessories. For that, he’d turn to Olli.

 “Why you asking me to find your lost book?”

“Because your smell has increased, right?”

 “You better not use me as your detective dog!” Olli threatens. And although Olli can have a short fuse from time to time, mostly he’s a helpful person. But Jari can get on his nerves when that silly kid loses yet another piece of clothing in the same darn week.

 

Jaska and Jani have also become good friends of the youngster.

While Jaska always comes up with wild adventures, almost too fantastic to be real, Jani somehow manages to entertain his friend with the _silliest_ stories.

 

One day Olli asks Jari if he also plays an instrument. That’s when Jari gets reminded of his childhood dream: becoming a drummer.

In no-time Marko has found an old drumkit somewhere and gives it to Jari. He himself reveals to be a singer. Olli decides to form a band together: he plays the guitar together with Jaska -who has found his love for guitar playing through Olli-, Jani can play the bass, Marko sings and Jari provides them with a steady beat. Sadly enough, Markus can’t contribute to the musical part but the vampire reassured Markus he was there ‘to lift their spirits up’.

 “If I still had a physical body, I would’ve hit you for that,” Markus had growled but he was actually grinning.

And so Jari became part of a monstrous band where he actually stood out because he was the only human in said band.


End file.
